You Said It: Your thoughts on marijuana legalization

There are so many different opinions and debates on the legalization of marijuana. When interviewing various students on campus, the majority of them all agreed that it should be legalized. Here are their thoughts.

Sunshine Johnson

Sophomore • Psychology

DIG: Should marijuana be legalized?

Johnson: Yes, because we can tax marijuana. It would create jobs. It could also lower the crime rate.

DIG: What do you think is the strand most people use?

Johnson: I guess Blue Dream. Sour Diesel is also pretty popular. AK47 is a pretty common one too.

DIG: Why do you think people should use it?

Johnson: Because they need it. Because they also feel like it. I think everyone has their own right to do whatever they want, not what the government wants.Michael Robertson

Senior • Chemistry

DIG: Should marijuana be legalized?

Robertson: Sure. I think it should be legalized for recreational use for control. Tax can be pre-distributed by companies and stuff like that.

DIG: Aside from economic benefits, do you think it would benefit societal health?

Robertson: I mean, there are other bigger things that would benefit societal health. People don’t need it. People don’t need tobacco or alcohol either.

DIG: Do you think marijuana has any health risks?

Robertson: I do think marijuana does have some health risks because you’re obviously burning it. It can psychologically affect a small population, such as a relation to schizophrenia. It’s ethical to be given to anybody at all. There should be an indication that it’s not necessarily risk-free according to their family history or their history of mental illnesses, but I think it should be under the individual’s discretion.

Jolie Gonsoulin

Junior • English-Literature and Spanish

DIG: Should marijuana be legalized?

Gonsoulin: Yes. It could definitely replace other drugs. It can also boost the economy?

DIG: What other drugs do you think marijuana could replace?

Gonsoulin: It could definitely replace opioid painkillers, like Valium, and possibly reduce prescription painkiller abuse (which is the most commonly abused drug in the United States). Not everyone needs to be prescribed marijuana, but it is a promising alternative to other drugs and treatments that may have a higher risk of addiction.

DIG: What are the benefits of legalizing it?

Gonsoulin: Higher tax revenue. If Colorado was any indication of how Louisiana would end up after legalizing marijuana, there would be less money going into criminal organizations. It would be boosting the local economy for local growers by procuring tax revenue so that people can go to school.

Kimberly Szuszka

Senior • Biology

DIG: Should marijuana be legalized?

Szuszka: It should be legal. It allows police to stop putting resources to minor drug crimes and reallocate those resources.

DIG: Why do you think it’s a minor drug crime?

Szuszka: It’s really not fair racially. Minorities who have been caught with marijuana are more likely to be tried versus a Caucasian male. It’s something that you can’t effectively watch over through the police department. They’re only going to choose to prosecute certain people under circumstances based on what they feel is more unjust.

DIG: Where should police use their resources on instead of marijuana?

Szuszka: They can focus their resources on more serious crimes. For example, the police can work on improving the areas that are known to have more violent crimes versus marijuana.

Caroline Brown

Junior • Political Science

DIG: Should marijuana be legalized?

Brown: Yes. I just don’t really see any harm in it. It’s not hard drugs. It’s kind of on the same level as alcohol, but alcohol is legal. You can die from alcohol, but not from marijuana. Even though it’s illegal, a large percent of people do it.

DIG: Why do you put marijuana on the same level as alcohol?

Brown: It doesn’t really have any dangerous side effects or withdrawal symptoms. It’s not physically addictive.

DIG: Do you think that it could be mentally addictive?

Brown: I think that anything can be mentally addictive. It depends on the person. Some people are alcoholics and others are food addicts or gym rats. Really, you can be emotionally addicted to anything and abuse anything.

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